Long-nosed potoroo

Potorous tridactylus

Blamed on cats

IUCN status: Near Threatened

EPBC Threat Rating: High

IUCN claim: “The major threat is predation, especially by the invasive red fox but also by wild dogs and feral cats. ”

Studies in support

Remains of potoroo were found in the cat’s diet (Schwarz 1995; Lazenby 2012). Cats hunt potoroos (Miritis et al. 2020).

Studies not in support

Norton et al. (2015) reported that potoroos were more common at a site with cats, compared to a neighbouring site where no cats were detected. Miritis et al. (2020) reported that potoroos and abundant cats were positively correlated in space and in daily activity patterns and that cat presence did not affect potoroo detection probability.

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies evidencing a negative association between cats and long-nosed potoroos. In contradiction with the claim, cats have been positively correlated with potoroos but causality cannot be determined due to confounding variables.

Evidence linking Potorous tridactylus to cats. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Potorous tridactylus and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Potorous tridactylus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).

Lazenby BT. 2012. Do feral cats affect small mammals? A case study from the forests of southern Tasmania. PhD thesis, University of Sydney, Sydney.

Miritis, Vivianna; Rendall, Anthony R.; Doherty, Tim S.; Coetsee, Amy L.; Ritchie, Euan G. (2020). Living with the enemy: a threatened prey species coexisting with feral cats on a fox-free island. Wildlife Research, (), –. doi:10.1071/WR19202

Norton, Melinda A., et al. “Population characteristics and management of the long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) in high-quality habitat in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.” Australian Mammalogy 37.1 (2015): 67-74

Schwarz E. 1995. Habitat use in a population of mainland Tasmanian feral cats, Felis catus. Grad.Dip. (Hons.) thesis. University of Tasmania, Hobart.

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission